Manager concerns delay BYOD plans

Security and cost control concerns are slowing the adoption of Bring Your Own Device schemes, with most companies better suited to introducing Choose Your Own Device schemes, which allow them greater control, according to a recent survey.

Choose Your Own Device (CYOD) schemes offer employees a choice of devices and operating systems, with the company retaining ownership of the SIM and contract.The survey, carried out on behalf of managed services provider Azzurri, polled more than 300 IT managers from all over the UK on their companies’ BYOD strategies.

It revealed that half of all respondents (50.2%) banned employees from bringing their own devices to work (Don’t Bring Your Own Device), with many citing security and cost-control concerns. Another 38% offer Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) schemes with only 16% pursuing a Choose Your Own Device (CYOD) scheme.

However, despite the greater use of BYOD schemes, the poll revealed most companies showed a strong preference to own the device and the SIM, with more than 63% of respondents citing security and cost control as top priorities.

‘The joint lowest level of support was for what would usually be considered a BYOD policy, where the employee owns the SIM and contract,’ the survey noted, concluding, ‘CYOD is better suited to the priorities and policies of 63.6% of organisations that took part, whereas BYOD was only the best fit for 9% of companies polled.’

The survey also noted the patchy takeup of BOYD. Of the 38.3% of companies using BYOD schemes, most were only open to higher management, with only 11% of organisations offering BYOD to more than 75% of their employees.

‘Despite the market hype, the popularity of BYOD has only marginally increased, with the number of organisations that have implemented BYOD, rising from 24.4% in 2010 to 25.6% in 2011,’ the report said.

Discussing the results of the survey, Azzurri chief technology officer Rufus Grig (pictured) said CYOD gave ‘the best of both worlds.’

He added: ‘Companies get control over the number of device types and control of the SIM while employees get a choice of device and competitive tariffs, so everyone is happy.’Grig said companies cannot ignore the rising demand from employees to be allowed to use their own devices.

He said: ‘Companies need to decide what they are going to do. They cannot hide their heads in the sand, not least because of the security implications of employees increasingly using their own devices at work on an unofficial basis. They need to decide which strategy they will adopt. To have no policy is not an option.’